The List

With her debut novel, Patricia Forde crafts a richly imagined future society, the development of which feels all too plausible in today’s climate.

As Wordsmiths, young Letta and her master, Benjamin, are charged with the task of maintaining the List, a collection of 500 words that make up the only language available to the residents…

It’s a longstanding tradition at Mount Washington High School—on the last Monday in September “The List” is posted all over school. It names the prettiest girl, and the ugliest girl, from each grade. Who writes The List? No one seems to know. It’s apparently an honor secretly passed down from one student to another, and…